The departure of a single member from the euro could trigger a “full-blown
panic” that rips the entire single currency apart, according to alarming
analysis by the International Monetary Fund.

In its starkest examination of the euro crisis to date, the Washington-based
body urged strong euro members, such as Germany, to dig deeper into their
wallets in an attempt to shore up the single currency, warning that a
disintegration of the euro would have worse consequences than the Lehman
Brothers crash.

The Fund also said that austerity alone was not enough to strengthen leading
economies, in words seized upon by